Remote locking release device and method

ABSTRACT

A remote locking release device in a bicycle wheel locking apparatus, including: a remote controller; a light signal receiving unit for generating a locking release signal by a locking release requirement signal received from the remote controller; a position detecting unit for detecting the present position of a locking bar and generating a locking state signal; a controller for generating a relay control signal by the locking release signal and the locking state signal; a relay driving unit for supplying a relay driving voltage by the relay control signal; and a relay for releasing the locking state by the locking bar with falling down a stopper by the delay driving voltage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a locking device and in particuarily, adevice for releasing the locking state in a remote place and a methodtherefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a locking device has used in two-wheeled vehicle such as abicycle and a motorcycle in order to prevent the robbery of the abovetwo-wheeled vehicle upon parking and the aforesaid locking device has tobe locked and unlocked manually by a driver by hands.

that is, the locking and the unlocking of the lock are performed withmost inconvenient posture and processes in that for the sake of lockingor unlocking the two-wheeled vehicle, the driver moves to front wheelsor back wheels of the above-mentioned vehicle and next, has to be benthis waist or crouched down.

However, there are generated occasions that most of drivers not onlyevade the locking of the lock but also forget the portage of the lockbecause the process as noted hereinabove is troublesome. Also, in theevent of losing the lock, the locking and the unlocking of the lock isresultedly impossible. Accordingly the robbery accident of thetwo-wheeled vehicle occurs frequently.

In the meanwhile, the prior art to solve the above problems is disclosedin Korea Laid-Open Utility Models Nos. 97-013538 (Title Handle LockingDevice of a Bicycle) and 98-64412 (Title A Bicycle Attached with ALocking Preventing Device).

It is obvious that the above Utility Models as already filed are usefulin that the locking device is attached to the two-wheeled vehicle so asto remove the inconvenience of the locking and the unlocking of the lockas the problem of the prior arts.

However, the above Utility Models as described above have complexconstruction as well as generate the difficulty that a driver can notsearch his vehicle in the night (in a dark place). Further, in case ofrain, there is generated the inconvenience that he reaches to theparking place of the bicycle and next, releases the locking device.Furthermore, it has a problem in that time for realsing the lockingdevice is delayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a devicefor being off a locking device with remote control and a methodtherefor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device forreleasing the locking state in a remote place in order to prevent therobbery upon parking of a two-wheeled vehicle.

It is further object of the present invention to provide a device forreleasing the locking state in a remote place in order to prevent therobbery and the loss of the locking device.

These and other objects can be achieved according to the presentinvention with a remote locking release device in a bicycle wheellocking apparatus, including: a remote controller; a light signalreceiving unit for generating a locking release signal by a lockingrelease requirement signal received from the remote controller; aposition detecting unit for detecting the present position of a lockingbar and generating a locking state signal; a controller for generating arelay control signal by the locking release signal and the locking statesignal; a relay driving unit for supplying a relay driving voltage bythe relay control signal; and a relay for releasing the locking state bythe locking bar with falling down a stopper by the delay drivingvoltage.

More preferably, the remote locking release device further includes analarm tone generating unit for generating the alarm tone by the controlof the controller and a lamp for lighting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of this invention, many of the attendantadvantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which likereference symbols indicate the same or similar elements components,wherein,

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the mechanical construction of aremote locking release device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the construction of the locking releasedevice where the locking state is able to be released with a remotecontroller in a remote place according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of the locking release deviceembodied with hardware logic according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a control flow chart illustrating the locking release processaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRLPTLON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be indetail explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Most of all, a locking release device according to the present inventionis mainly used in a two-wheeled vehicle for example a bicycle and amotorcycle, preferably, as a locking device of the bicycle. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the above lockingrelease device is applied not only to the bicycle but also to all oftwo-wheeled bicycles where the locking device is required.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the mechanical construction of aremote locking release device according to an embodiment: of the presentinvention.

The mechanical construction of the remote locking release deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIG.1.

In explaining the construction of the remote locking release deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention with reference toFIG. 1, a locking release device 50 includes a locking bar 10 ofpenetrating a case 50 a and the locking bar 10 operates frontwardly andbackwardly by the elasticity of a spring 12. That is, the spring 12 iscoupled to one side of the locking bar 10 and both surface ends of thespring 12 are fixed by the case 50 a and a hooking protrusion 50 a Twogrooves 14 and 18 are formed in bottom surface of the locking bar 10while side by side maintaining at regular intervals.

A stopper 16 wound with the coil is installed down the locking bar 10,preferably, in low surface of the grooves 14 and 18 and a spring 24having the given tension is coupled to the stopper 16. That is to say,the stopper 16 operates upwardly and downwardly by the elasticity of thespring 24 and is inserted into the grooves 14 and 18, simultaneously.The stopper 16 as noted above, preferably, the coil of the stopper 16 isconnected with a circuit substrate 20 as a main construction element andhas a melody chip 28 for generating the alarm tone and a LED(light-emitting diode).

Herein, a battery 26 for supplying the power supply to the circuitsubstrate 20 is installed in the interior of the case 50 a, preferably,in one side of the stopper 24.

Meantime, the circuit substrate 20 has an IC (integrated circuit) forstoring therein the natural number corresponding to each of the lockingrelease device 50, preferably, the secrete number for setting the numberset voluntarily by a user, and it is obvious to the related to embodythe above technique.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the construction of the locking releasedevice where the locking state is able to be released with a remotecontroller in a remote place according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

With respect to FIG. 2, a remote controller 130 transmits a radio signalof requiring the release of the locking state by the operation of theuser. To embody the above operation, an operational key operated by theuser and the construction for generating the radio signal by the inputof the operational key are required. In the meanwhile, the radio signalincludes all signals for radio-transmission in a remote place, and anexample of the radio signals corresponds to an infrared rays signal.

A controller 110 performs the control for releasing the locking state bychecking the release state in receiving a locking release requirement,and the control for informing the completion of releasing the lockingstate, simultaneously. While the method for releasing the locking statecan be variously embodied, a method using a relay is disclosed in thedetailed description as below, as an example. Also, a representativeexample of the methods for informing the release of the locking stale isa method using a display lamp and a method using the alarm tone.Further, the alcove two methods are disclosed in the detaileddescription as below.

A position detecting unit 112 provides a locking state dection signal ora locking release detection signal corresponding to a position detectedwith detecting the position of the locking bar 10 to the controller 110.The position detecting unit 112 is capable of being embodied with usingan infrared rays sensor.

A light signal receiving unit 113 detects the locking state releaserequirement with receiving the infrared rays signal transmitted from theremote controller 130 and informs the detection of the locking state tothe controller 110.

A relay driving unit 116 drives a relay 118 to release the locking stateunder the control of the controller 110.

The relay 118 drives the driving voltage supplied from the relay drivingunit 116 and falls down the stopper 116. Accordingly, the relay 118release the locking state with movement of the locking bar 10 by theelasticity of the spring 12.

An alarm tone generating unit 120 can be embodied with using the melodychip 28 and generates the alarm tone for informing the release of thelocking state by the control of the controller. The alarm tone asgenerated above is able to be embodied variously by the melody chip 28for embodying the alarm tone generating unit 120.

The LED 122 emits to inform the locking release under the control of thecontroller 110. Also, the LED 122 can be embodied with a given periodaccording to the control format of the controller 110.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of the locking release deviceembodied with hardware logic according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

In view of FIG. 3, while the present invention discloses theconstruction comprised of two resistors R1 and R2 and two transistors Q1and Q2, as, an example of the construction of generating the lockingrelease requirement signal with receiving the light signal (the infraredrays signal), the connection and operation of two resistors R1 and R2and two transistors Q1 and Q2 are explained as follows. The transistorQ1 as a light receiving transistor, performs the switch operation byexistence/nonexistence of the light signal (the infrared rays signal:P.S.) and determines existence/nonexistence of the bypass of the voltageapplied to a collector through the resistor R1. The transistor Q2 usesthe collector voltage of the transistor Q1 as the bias voltage, isswitched by the bypass voltage, is switched by the bias voltage, anddetermines the existence/nonexistence of the bypass of the voltageapplied to the collector through the resistor R2. Namely, when theinfrared rays signal of requiring the locking release from the remotecontroller 130 is received. the transistor Q1 is turned on and maintainsthe collector voltage as the logic low level by bypassing the voltageapplied through the resistor R1. The logic low level outputs the lockingrelease requirement signal of the logic high level with closing thebypass path of the voltage applied through the resistor R2 because thetransistor Q1 is turned off with the supply of the bias voltage of thetransistor Q2.

Meantime, a logic gate 210 generates the locking release requirementsignal and the locking release signal by a position detection signalP.D. provided from the position detecting unit 112. As an example, thelogic gate 210 uses the position detection signal P.D. of the logic highlevel as the detection signal in the event of embodying the logic gate210 as an OR gate, and the position detection signal P.D of the logichigh level as the detection signal. Therefore, the OR gate generates thelocking release signal of the logic high level only when receiving theposition detection signal P.D. of the logic high level corresponding tothe locking state detection signal and the locking release requirementsignal of the logic high level according to receiving of the infraredrays signal from the remote controller 130.

The transistor Q3 uses the locking release signal as the bias voltage,performs the switching operation, and generates a relay driving signalR.D., a LED driving signal L.C, and an alarm tone control signal S.C. bythe above switching operation. The relay driving signal RD., the LEDdriving signal L.C., and the alarm tone control signal S.C. which aregenerated by the above switching operation of the transistor. Q3, aresupplied to the relay driving signal R.D., and the melody chip 28(hereinafter, referred to as the “alarm tone generating unit” 120), andsimultaneously operates the release of the locking state and the alarmtone and an alarm light.

FIG. 4 is a control flow. chart illustrating the locking release processaccording to in embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 1 to 4, an operation according to an embodiment of the presentinvention will be in detailed explained as follows.

The controller 110 checked in step 310 whether the release requirementgenerated from the remote controller 130 is detected by the light signalreceiving unit 114. The above detection operation is performed by thelocking release signal provided from the light signal receiving unit114.

In the above step 310, upon checked that the release requirementgenerated therefrom was detected thereby, the controller processes tostep 312 detects the position of the locking bar 10. The detection ofthe position of the locking bar 10 is performed by the positiondetecting unit 112. When the detection of the position of the lockingbar 10 is completed, the controller 110 processes to step 314, detectsexistence/unexistence of the locking by a state detection signalprovided from the position detecting unit 112.

When the locking state was detected in the step 314, the controller 110processes to step 316. But, when the locking state was not detectedtherein, namely, the release state was detected therein, the controller110 ignores, the release requirement received from the remote controller130 and completes the release operation.

In the aforesaid step 316, the controller 110 outputs the relay controlsignal to the relay driving unit 116. The relay driving unit 116provided with the relay control signal detects the above output of therelay control signal as the locking release requirement and supplies thedriving voltage for driving the relay 118 so as to release the locking.Due to this, the relay 118 falls down the stopper 16 and releases thelocking state in order that the locking bar 10 can be moved by theelasticity of the spring 12.

In the meantime, the controller 110 outputs the relay control signal inthe step 316 and outputs a control signal S.D. for requiring the alarmtone generation and a control signal L.D. for the control of the LED122. Thus, the LED 122 is lighted. or emitted by the control signal L.D.provided from the controller 110, and the alarm tone generating unit 120generates the alarm tone by the control signal S.D. provided from thecontroller 110.

While operating the LED 122 and the alarm tone generating unit 120 inthe step 318, the controller 110 lastly checks in step 320 whether theset time is passed. The above checking of the set time is define theoperation for informing the locking release to. a specific time. Thus,when checked in the above step 320 that the set time was passed, thecontroller 110 processes to step 322, closes the control signal L.D. forthe control of the LED 122 outputted and the control signal forrequirement of the alarm tone generation.

As may be apparent from the foregoing, the present invention can releasethe locking device in the remote place with using the remote controller,thereby solving the problem in that a key for locking release has to becarried or the secret number has to be memorized. Also, because ofreleasing the locking state in the remote place, it has an effect inthat a user is provided with the convenience.

Moreover, the present invention has an advantage in that the driver cansearch his two-wheeled vehicle in the dark place or in the remote placewith attaching the melody chip and the LED in the interior of thelocking device and more particularly in case of rains, the user isprovided Pith the convenience because of releasing the locking devicewith the remote controller in the remote place. Also, upon operation ofthe locking device, the driver can lock and unlock the two-wheeledvehicle regardless of any posture, simply. In addition, since the lockis unnecessary, the problem of losing the lock is removed.

While there have been illustrated and described what are considered tobe preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications maybe made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof withoutdeparting from the true scope of the present. invention. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to theteaching of the present invention without departing from the centralscope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention notbe limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out the present invention, but that thepresent invention includes all embodiments falling within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A remote locking release device in a bicyclewheel locking apparatus, comprising: a remote controller; a light signalreceiving unit for generating a locking release signal by a lockingrelease requirement signal received from said remote controller; aposition detecting unit for detecting the present position of a lockingbar and generating a locking state signal; a controller for generating arelay control signal by said locking release signal and said lockingstate signal; a relay driving unit for supplying a relay driving voltageby said relay control signal; and a relay for releasing the lockingstate by said locking bar with falling down a stopper by said delaydriving voltage.
 2. The device as defined in claim 1, furthercomprising: an alarm lone generating unit for generating an alarm toneby the control of said controller.
 3. The device as defined in claim 1or 2, further comprising: a lamp for lighting by the control of saidcontroller.
 4. The device as defined in claim 3, wherein said lamp iscomprised of a light-emitting diode.
 5. The device as defined in claim4, wherein said locking release requirement signal corresponds to aninfrared rays signal.
 6. A remote locking release method in a bicyclewheel locking apparatus, comprising: a first step of detecting a lockingrelease requirement signal received from a remote controller; a secondstep of, upon said locking release requirement signal was detected insaid first step, detecting a present position of said locking bar andexistence/nonexistence of the lock; and a third step of, upon saidlocking state was detected in said second step, driving a relay, fallingdown a stopper, and releasing the locking state by said locking bar. 7.The method as defined in claim 6, further comprising a fourth step of,upon said locking state was detected in said second step, generating analarm tone.
 8. The method as defined in claim 7, further comprising afifth step of, upon said locking state was detected in said second step,lighting a lamp.
 9. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein saidlocking release requirement signal corresponds to an infrared rayssignal.